Bailiffs have cleared Dale Farm after riot police arrest 34 protesters as part
of operation to evict travellers and residents from Britain's biggest
illegal travellers' camp.

• Dale Farm eviction comes to a peaceful close • Travellers stage mass walkout in symbolic gesture• 5 supporters mount roof top of building in protest• Police make 34 arrests after violent clashes• Tasers used on protesters preventing eviction.

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Travellers leave the Dale Farm site together

17:34 The Dale Farm travellers are out of the site. Some of the travellers wept as they left, the BBC reports. Candy Sheridan of the Gypsy Council said they wanted to leave en-masse as a symbolic gesture. That's it for today's live blog. Good night from us.

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Dale Farm residents and supporters preparing to abandon site in next few minutes in mass unified walk out #dalefarm

Bailiffs at the Essex travellers' site tear down the scaffolding tower built by protesters

16:00 The BBC has been accused of sending too many staff members to cover the Dale Farm eviction. There were claims that the BBC had sent down 40 journalists, outnumbering the protesters. They were also criticised for renting a caravan while ITV and its reporters had to make do with a tent. ITV's Damon Green tweeted:

We have a tent, the BBC have a caravan at #DaleFarm. Delivering Quality First

The BBC said there were "around 20" employees present.

15:23 The Dale Farm eviction is proceeding peacefully at the moment, according to Basildon Council Leader Tony Ball. He and Superintendent Trevor Roe have said that it is calm at the Essex travellers' site. Watch:

14:49 Sky's Emma Birchley tweets:

Riot police entered #dalefarm in large numbers to escort council officials around the site as they carried out inspection.

14:04It's looking as if the site is now completely cleared of travellers and protestors. The Guardian's Lexy Topping reports that Kathleen McCarthy, a resident, said: "we have done our best but there is no more to be done."

13:47 Joseph Jones from the Gypsy Council say travellers just want the Dale Farm eviction to pass without any more violence. Watch:

13:04Johnny Howorth, who is at Dale Farm, tweets that "The new fight seems to be controlling the 'new arrivals' who are disguising themselves as peaceful protesters". The seem "hell-bent on violence" he writes:

Confirmation from a female resident who saw some of the new 'supporters' making small molotov cocktails in the night.

12.13 A police spokesman says no travellers have been arrested. All of the 34 people arrested - the majority of whom are not from Essex - are activists.

He confirms there have been "six minor injuries" during the eviction. One person went to hospital for a "minor back injury", but was then released from hospital later in the afternoon.

12.10 Council leader Councillor Ball has emphasised his belief that the police have acted in a dignified and professional way.

Where we are now is where we would have liked to have been yesterday morning, with out contractors entering the site peacefully.

What is clear is that the delay was caused by violent resistence put up by protesters in the morning, and peaceful resistence in the evening.

In answer to a journalist's question, he says none of the council's offers of "bricks and morter accommodation", made to the elderly the vulnerable and the young, have been taken up.

12.05Basildon Council have provided an update on the situation at a press conference.

A spokesman says "a number of residents would like to leave the site once access is clear".

He says there's been further reports of missiles and abuse coming from a rooftop, and that bailiffs are still waiting for full access to the site be achieved before the clearing of families can begin.

A woman makes her way past an abandoned caravan at Dale Farm travellers' camp

12.00 Lunch Time Round Up

In the words ofone tweeting journalist at Dale Farm, proceedings have hit "a bit of a lull". So now feels like an opportune moment to round up the main developments from this morning (see 07.35 for a wrap of yesterday's events).

• Police made further arrests, bringing the total amount to 34. Three people were cut from a van early on this morning - all are believed to have been arrested. The final two 'locked on' protesters were removed and apparently arrested at 10.22.

• The main barricade to Dale Farm has been demolished. The fall of the symbolic barricade removed the final obstacle to bailiffs, who have now entered the site to begin clearing out families. An excavator also demolished the bird's nest tower, which was the scene of much of yesterday's action.

• Five supporters are sitting on top of a rooftop in protest. There are also reports of a second tower under construction at the far end of the site.

• Media attention has been focused on police's use of Tasers. See 10.01 for more detail.

11.27 Johnny Howorth, who is at Dale Farm, tweets a picture of protesters apparently erecting a second tower:

One comes down, another goes up. Protesters building a new scaffold tower at other end of #DaleFarm http://yfrog.com/mf2v2vj

11.08 Richard Alleyne has emailed in to confirm the last two chained protesters have been removed and arrested. He says there were multiple shouts of "shame on you" as they were led away in a police van.

11.05 Our resident cartoonist Matt brings his own wry take on the police's use of Tasers during yesterday's eviction operation:

10.58 Looks as though the last two 'lock on' protesters have now been cut free from their shared oil drum and have been arrested.

10.50 Here's footage showing an excavator pulling down the bird's nest tower and the symbolic main barricade to Dale Farm:

10.22 Guardian reporter @LexyTopping tweets that Arran and Danya, the final two protesters on the site (see 08.22), have now been removed:

Twitter playing up today. Two final protesters been removed. Still attached to barrel.

10.06 An update from Richard Alleyne:

The scaffold tower that became the symbol of traveller's resistance at Dale Farm has been reduced to rubble by the bailiff's digger.

10.04 The main gate at Dale Farm has been demolished by heavy machinery.

10.01 The use of Taser is at the crux of a debate in today's papers about the level of police force used.

The Guardian describes a protester "writhing on the floor" due to the Taser, and says the "force and efficiency of police left many in shock."

Similarly, the Independent's front page picture reads "Dale Farm burns - but police fight fire with fire". Inside, they quote the law reform group Justice, who "expressed concern at the use of the weapons".

The Times, meanwhile, says Dale Farm's end was "swift, clinical and violent". It says the use of Tasers prompts accusations of a breach of guidelines, which say "electric shocks should not be used as crowd control". But its leading article is also quick to credit Essex Police for "minimising conflict".

09.43 The police have confirmed that a Taser was used on one man yesterday by officers "who were faced with a serious level of violence".

After the Taser was used, "the man disappeared in to the crowd".

Police deploy a Taser during the dawn eviction raid yesterday.

09.37 A digger is ripping down the scaffolding structure that activists took to yesterday to avoid bailiffs.

The police used a 'cherry-picker' yesterday to fetch people from the top of the tower.

09.33 Essex police have just released a statement saying a total of 34 arrests have been made since the eviction began yesterday morning.

The men and women have mainly been arrested for obstructing bailiffs and while a number have refused to provide details of their name and address, the majority live outside Essex. Only one man lives in Basildon and he is not a resident at Dale Farm.

Miss Challis - or Miss Donna Berry, as her real name is believed to be - has previously joined protests against globalisation, gang culture, child abuse, and the plight of Palestinians in Gaza (to which she likened the Dale Farm eviction).

09.12 Looks as though attention has now turned to Arran and Danya (see 08.22). Sky News producer@RobDavSkytweets:

Press now pushed back as police try to move the 2 protesters chained to a barrel #dalefarm

09.01 Much of the debate around the Dale Farm eviction hinges on the issue of post-eviction housing. Basildon Council claims it has gone to extensive lengths to find council accommodation for the travellers, while the travellers say these offers have been risible.

I was travelling before I came here. And I will be on the road again after they kick me out. I will be homeless. The council says they offered me a home, but it was just a hostel.

How can they think it is right to force a woman with four children to live in a hostel? I have been evicted many times before, I have been moved on from car parks and fields but it has never been like this. We have never had riot police burst in before. I haven't seen this kind of force.

08.39 Extra bailiffs are now heading to the main gate, where a barricade stands between them and the main road into Dale Farm.

The local council hopes that once this barricade has been removed, the travellers staying on illegal plots will leave through Dale Farm's 'front door'.

(Chris Radburn/PA)

08.34 Richard says three arrests have been made already today:

One man and two women have been arrested this morning: Josh, Cat and Jess. Josh was the set designer who helped build the "bird nest" and Jess is a researcher from Cambridge. That leaves just Arran and Danya as the last 'lock on' (see 08.22).

The situation on site is that there is a large police presence on half the site, especially around the front tower (still standing!), where people in lock-ons are still being removed. However, half the site still has supporters and residents on it. The electricity on site has been cut off, but we have a few generators.

08.22 Telegraph reporter Richard Alleyne has been talking to a couple of the activists who remain chained up on Dale Farm.

As daylight broke over Dale Farm, the bailiffs continued to remove the last of the makeshift barriers and "locked-on" protesters. But Arran and Danya "locked on" to a barrier nearby have been completely ignored. They have their hands bound together on either side of a fence and can't free themselves and have been forced to spend the night in the open. "It could be worse", said Arran, 26, a charity fundraiser from Bristol.

Arran and Danya remain 'locked-on' at Dale Farm.

08.18 Basildon Council leader CouncillorTony Ball said this morning:

As always, the health and safety of Council officers, partners and everyone on the site is our top priority.

Again, we have been made aware that there are residents who want to leave the site and are being prevented from doing so by the barricade and the actions of the protestors. Along with our contractors and partners, we want to do all that we can to help them to leave safely, and removing the barricade is key to achieving this.

I hope that there are no repeats of yesterday’s scenes of pre-meditated violence and disorder from the protestors on the site, and that we can get on with the job of upholding the law, and clearing the site in a safe, professional and dignified way.

08.17 Police have released a statement saying the main objectives for today are "to remove the entrance barricade, and to remove remaining protestor’s ‘locked-on’ and other impediments/barricades on the site".

By 2001, a growing number of families were moving in and various planning breaches were reported, but no action was taken by Basildon Council, according to the BBC.

In 2007 Basildon Council voted to evict 14 families.

In 2008 the travellers staged a legal challenge and in 2009 the High Court ruled that the council's plans were unlawful, but that judgement was overturned by the Court of Appeal.

In March this year Basildon Council voted to go ahead with the eviction.

07.52 Work is currently underway to demolish to open or demolish the main gate to Dale Farm so that bailiffs can begin removing homes from the 48 unauthorised plots.

07.40 After a day of clashes with police and 23 arrests, six protesters remain chained to barricades on the site in a last-ditch attempt to prevent bailiffs removing families. The Press Association reports that the supporters have shackled themselves to cars and trucks behind the main gate and a road block inside Dale Farm. A protester, named Harry, who is chained to the road block, said:

Last night was pretty uncomfortable but it is worth it. We may just be delaying the inevitable but if we don't stand up to this, nobody will. I'm prepared to stay as long as I can.

07.35 Here's a quick wrap of the main developments yesterday:

• Riot police staged a dawn operation to take control of Dale Farm. Electricity to the site was cut off while 40 policemen with riot shields took up formation in front of the main gate and worked to break down a barricade erected by the travellers and activists.

• Police used Tasers on supporters who threw missiles and set fire to caravans as the police approached. Up to fifteen people were arrested in initial clashes. Basildon Council later say police, not bailiffs, staged the operation due to "intelligence that there would be a high risk to safety".

• Supporters applied for a last minute injunction. The Dale Farm Solidarity Campaign said this was due to the "unlawful evicition" in which police had use "unlawful" violence.

• As police increasingly took control of the site, a group of activists climbed into a 'bird's nest' atop a makeshift tower. When the police deployed a 'cherry-picker' to get them down, some of the activists chained themselves to the scaffolding beneath the bird's nest. Policemen then worked for roughly four hours to cut these supporters from the structure.

• By the end of the day, police had made 23 arrests. People were detained for violent disorder, breach of the peace and obstruction.

Police surround the main entrance to Dale Farm travellers' camp in Basildon

07.30 Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the eviction of travellers from Dale Farm. We will bring you all the latest news on the eviction, as it happens.